


A Dream Is a Dream/Is a Dream

by Shinaka



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death (But in other timelines), Character Study, M/M, NaNoWriMo, dream walking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-23 09:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21318157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinaka/pseuds/Shinaka
Summary: Following Sothis’ merging with Byleth, Sothis' consciousness splinters, allowing Ashe to gain the power to see into other timelines through dreams. But it’s just that – seeing.If he wants his happy ending with Dedue though, Ashe will have to work damn hard at it, especially when his dreams keep showing him worlds where Dedue doesn’t live.For NaNoWriMo
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Dedue Molinaro
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Since this project is pretty ambitious, I will be writing and posting as I go! I will try my best to edit as I go but alas, there might be a few mistakes.

If this is a dream, then he never wants to wake up from it.

He is on Dedue’s lap, wrapped in his arms and soaked in his warmth. He smells of earth and spiced hot cocoa, and is as comforting as both, as Ashe lays his head against his heart. 

_Thump-thump-thump._

Heavy heartbeats appropriate for a boy so large of heart.

“Are you comfortable?” Dedue asks, to which Ashe only responds with a smile and the further nestling of his head against him. Let him bask, no, _bathe_ in his essence.

_Thumpthumpthump._

Quickening heartbeats to match the rhythm in his own heart.

“Look at me then.”

Dedue does not often make requests so Ashe looks up immediately, eager to please.

“What is it, Dedue?”

_Thumpthumpthump._

Because of how big he is, Dedue has to break their lovely embrace and hold Ashe apart from him in order to make eye contact.

His eyes are so very

Green.

“I want to tell you something,” is said at the same time as, “I want to show you something.”

“Please do,” Ashe says, already forgetting who has said what. But this is a dream and it is all right.

And as Dedue leans down, eyes closed, Ashe raises his head to meet him halfway and to k–

Suddenly the image pauses and there is a _splitting_.

Ashe is looking at Ashe looking up at Dedue. Then Ashe is looking down at himself, bare feet on a cold stone floor that is not at all the warm wooden floorboards of the dorm room he had been in.

Then he looks up again, and –

There is a girl with long green hair and pointed ears in an elaborate dress. And she is floating in between him and the sight of Dedue about to give Ashe his first kiss. 

“So this is the boy that you like,” she says, as if she had been there all along. 

And although Ashe should be protesting her untimely intrusion, at how strange this previously lovely dream is becoming, he finds himself unable to oppose her matter-of-fact tone.

Instead, he nods slowly, a blush rising to his cheeks.

“How wonderful! I daresay that there is something about romance that is quite endearing to behold.” She claps her hands in glee, smiling down at him.

“But when love is thwarted…” The girl closes her eyes in contemplation. "Hmm, that is also another fact of this world. But it is still quite tragic.” 

“Y-yes,” Ashe begins. “But you were the one that –"

She rolls her eyes. “I meant in general. There will be other dreams for that sort of thing, you naughty fool.”

He sputters and then shuts up.

The girl alights on the ground and Ashe finds that she is rather short, even compared to him. But from the way she cocks her head at him, sizing him up and finding him somewhat lacking, such a judgment would not only be rude but also earn him a tongue-lashing.

“Tongue-tied, aren’t you? Well, no matter.” The girl waves one hand dismissively at him before turning around to face the image of Dedue and Ashe.

“You will not remember this when you wake anyway,” she says. Ashe thinks he catches a tinge of sadness in her voice. “But explaining will ease my conscience."

Even with her back turned to him, he senses the transformation in her demeanor. She appears taller, the veneer of precocious if condescending girl stripped away. Her voice is majesty and prophecy and he is compelled to listen.

“I am Sothis and I am the beginning. In dreams, I began. To dreams, I return. Now I find myself here.”

“Sothis?” He whispers to himself. There is a dim memory there – did Lonato read him something long ago with her name in it – but he cannot seem to reach for it.

Before him, the strange being raises her arms to the picture before her. “My presence means that your fate must be tied up in dreams. How thrilling! A long time ago, I might have played the role of advisor in humanity’s dreams. Even if I could not help all, I touched the dreams of many and led them on the path they wished to walk."

But then Sothis’ arms lower and her shoulders slump. She is no longer as ineffable as she was moments ago. 

"However, I do not have the power I once have, thanks to a certain professor. I have no regrets of course, for we would have perished otherwise, but that does limit what I can do for you.”

Ashe’s mind is buzzing. Is she the Goddess? How does she know the professor? What does she mean by “advisor"? But in the way that dreams are, he suddenly knows without knowing how that he will be waking up soon. 

“Please, can you explain more? I don’t think I’m really understanding _any_ of this.” Even if this is all just a dream, how unfulfilling it would be for Ashe to leave without getting a kiss _and_ any answers from the mystical girl.

She harrumphs and then turns around. “How frustrating that our time should be cut short so soon! But fine, just know that your dreams from now on will show you many things, images that may have happened in the past or in another timeline. Nevertheless, these will all be things that will point you to the fate that you desire.”

Sothis’ eyes soften as the stone floor and Dedue’s image begin to dissolve and blend into darkness, as Ashe himself begins to succumb, questions dying in his non-existent throat, but she alone remains glowing and vivid. 

“You will have to work for it yourself for I do not have the power to even manifest here for as long as I want. It will most certainly be an arduous climb but you – you are one of the professor’s students. So I have faith in you.”

Finally her face begins to crack, splinter, and spill into the dark and he is sent into the light of day with a sentence – not his – upon his tongue that makes him yearn without knowing why.

_“May you and that boy be happy."_


	2. [He Is] The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ashe turns to his friends about his strange dream the next day and then has another one that same night. It is horrifying, to say the least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might gather from this chapter that I am taking an experimental approach to writing the dream sequences

“So you were having a dream about a certain gentleman at first?” Mercedes asks, a teasing lilt to her words.

In her room, the aroma of three different teas – mint for Ashe in particular – mingle and bathe the space in somnolence. Were it not for the topic of conversation, he might have found himself drifting onto the shag rug at the foot of Mercedes’ bed. 

But Ashe has to instead duck his head beneath her gaze. “Ah, that’s – that’s not the point!” 

“Oh, Mercie, let him explain his dream first and then we can have fun analyzing it,” Annette titters, touching a cup of tea to her lips. “Ouch, hot!” follows, along with Mercedes cooing over her best friend.

“Annie… You mustn’t drink so quickly.”

“I know, I know, I should be more careful,” Annette groans, sucking on her lower lip for comfort. “Sorry Ashe, you can go on now!"

So Ashe picks up the thread of his retelling again, and by the time he’s finished, his friends have thoughtful if slightly skeptical expressions.

“You can’t remember who the girl is or what she said other than that one sentence, but you think you’re going to have weird dreams from now on?” The redhead tilts her head to the side. “That’s a lot to take in.”

"'May you and that boy be happy,’ was it?” Mercedes brings an index finger to her chin, pondering aloud. “That has to be referring to both you and Dedue, right? Unless you have other crushes you haven’t been telling us about until now?”

Ashe flushes at the singsong voice and the small quirk in her smile. “No, there’s nobody else!"

“Ooh, maybe the dream is just the Goddess’ complicated way of telling you that you two really do belong together! That would be so romantic!” Clasping her hands, Annette closes her eyes and sighs deeply. “Maybe the girl might even be your daughter in the future?"

Mercedes giggles. “Unless they adopt, I’m not sure how that would happen, Annie.”

“Aww, way to remind me how the world can be so unfair sometimes.”

“Guys, I’m not even with Dedue!” But his words might as well fall on deaf ears when his friends are this worked up.

And even though they’re reaching conclusions that make sense given what he’s told them and that make him somewhat regret ever coming to them, Ashe is still not completely satisfied with their explanations.

It’s not their fault though. Short of bringing them into his dreams, there is no way to convey how he is now standing on a 

Precipice.

How the girl’s words are both those of reassurance and a portent of things to come.

“Ashe, are you all right?” 

“You haven’t spoken for a while!"

Somehow he’s slipped into thought long enough to worry both of his classmates. He gives his head a small shake, the physical act enough to clear his head a little.

“I know this must sound strange, but I really do feel that last night’s dream was a harbinger of… something! Maybe Annette’s right and it’s all to do with me and Dedue getting together, which would be nice, don’t get me wrong!” 

Ashe looks down at his hands on his lap. "But I feel like there's something else going on here, too. I know it sounds crazy but…"

None of them say anything for several long moments. He fidgets in his chair and wishes he can burrow out of the discomfort he unintentionally created for his friends. If only he has more to go on than vague unease and snatches of images and words.

At last, though, Mercedes breaks the silence.

“I’m not sure I completely understand what about your dream bothers you so, to be honest, but I do see that you’re more troubled by it than I thought at first. I’m sorry for being insensitive, Ashe.”

Annette joins in, too. “I’m also sorry for not taking you more seriously!” Her ringlets bounce as she bows her head in apology. 

“Ah, it’s okay, I know you didn’t mean to.” The atmosphere lightens a little and Ashe is thankful for the two of them being so kind.

Annette purses her lips in thought. “You know, the fastest way to settle this would be to see what happens in your dreams the next few nights. Maybe last night is just an exception and things will be normal again.”

She places her hand on Ashe’s arm and squeezes comfortingly. “But if your dreams do become really weird or even scary, me and Mercie will be here for you!”

Mercedes nods. “Of course. We’re your friends, after all."

He gives them a small smile. “Thanks, you two.”

So he manages to put the dream out of his mind for now in favor of enjoying his cooling mint tea.

* * *

When he gets to bed, he

Sinks

immediately.

And into a world of flames that lick at his skin and clothes yet doesn’t burn, a world rapidly disintegrating at the altar of bright red and orange light.

And being sacrificed at the altar are so many Kingdom soldiers, their corpses piled up in a ring around –

Even when he knows he shouldn’t be able to recognize them – their faces and bodies are leaking mounds of flesh and blood – Ashe can recite their names:

Glenn of House Fraldarius

His previous Majesty, King Lambert

The King’s consort, Patricia von Arundel

And more, there are more names, but the viewpoint of his dream wants to move elsewhere, won’t let him linger for long. That is fine with him, really, for there is nothing he can do for those poor victims. But he grieves for His Highness, for Felix and Ingrid, for the families of those soldiers, even as he is swept up and taken to –

He knows that in this field, there used to be beautiful flowers.

There were plants that required little water, were hardy, but glistened with deep, dark colors when they were in bloom,

_and Dedue had been so proud of them when they finally blossomed in the greenhouse and Ashe had smiled so hard for him, he thought his face would crack_

But in front of him are only ruins of that beauty, and strewn among them are yet more bodies, more blood, more death

The urge to vomit rises for Ashe knows who they are, too.

Soldiers, bakers, hunters, carpenters, chefs, merchants, farmers, students

All dark-skinned, all innocent, all dead.

Then he is stepping across the threshold into a house that must have been cozy and held so many warm memories once upon a time. He senses that the hearth must have been a constant companion as the family inside wove stories of ancestors and gods, that good hearty food was served daily, and that smiles and laughter were the backdrop of their days.

But now there is only burnt out candles, broken furniture, pools of red on the floor and on the walls, and he is on his knees and he is screaming

He knows them, he knows _him_

In the year 1176, Ana, Mila, and

_Dedue Molinario_

perish at the Tragedy of Duscur –

He sees, he doesn’t want to see, and why is he dreaming this, he doesn’t want this

Yet he can’t wake up. _Not yet_, something from outside himself seems to be whispering. And even though he wants to move, to run away from this, Ashe is rooted to the floor, forced to behold their unseeing faces, 

Dedue's arms wrapped tightly around his mother and sister even as he was being slashed at and stabbed, wanting to protect them to the last, even though when he first woke up that morning, all he wanted was to

Simply live his life.

But he died a scapegoat, along with the rest of his people,_ out, out, brief candle –_

Worse, Ashe knows who did this, even if he does not know how he knows.

They were knights from House Kleiman, a tiny lordship in the west.

Tasked with honoring and protecting their liege, their king, meting out justice for them, but in what way is this _righteous_?

Ashe sobs at their feet until finally he feels a warm hand on his cheek. He opens his eyes and sees –

“S-Sothis!” In a rush, he remembers her name, and the girl steps back alarmed.

“Why am I dreaming this? This has to do with you, right? Why _this_? _Why would you do this to him!_” He’s the most angry he’s been since Lonato was sacrificed at the whims of the Western Church.

“I am sorry, but you must learn from this,” she says, sounding sorrowful. “I cannot say and I also can stay no longer.”

Ashe reaches out, tries to grab her arm before she can vanish but the next moment he knows, he is sitting upright in bed and reaching for air.

“No…”

He brings his arm down.

Then he brings his hands to his face and lets the tears finish falling.


End file.
